MINERAL BIJIH

TEXTURES
Nurcahyo I. Basuki

Textural recognition and interpretation:

- providing insight into the history of a deposit (i.e.
their formation and post-depositional events)
- aid in mineral identification
- can supply information valuable to ore milling
and beneficiation.

TEXTURES
1. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF ORE MINERALS FORMED FROM
MELTS/LIQUIDS
2. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM COOLING
3. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF OPEN-SPACE DEPOSITION
4. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM REPLACEMENT
(INCLUDING WEATHERING)
5. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM DEFORMATION
6. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM ANNEALING
AND METAMORPHIC CRYSTAL GROWTH
7. TEXTURES OF PLACER GRAINS

TEXTURES
1. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF ORE MINERALS FORMED FROM
MELTS/LIQUIDS

TEXTURES
1. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF ORE MINERALS FORMED FROM
MELTS/LIQUIDS

TEXTURES
1. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF ORE MINERALS FORMED FROM
MELTS/LIQUIDS

TEXTURES
1. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF ORE MINERALS FORMED FROM
MELTS/LIQUIDS

TEXTURES
1. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF ORE MINERALS FORMED FROM
MELTS/LIQUIDS

TEXTURES
1. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF ORE MINERALS FORMED FROM
MELTS/LIQUIDS

(Crystals grown from melts often

display euhedral shapes, 50x)
(Droplets of reflecting phases trapped
in rapidly cooled silicate melts, 50x )

http://www.microscopy.manchester.ac.uk/

TEXTURES
1. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF ORE MINERALS FORMED FROM
MELTS/LIQUIDS

(Skeletal crystals formed from a melt, 50x)

http://www.microscopy.manchester.ac.uk/

TEXTURES
1. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF ORE MINERALS FORMED FROM
MELTS/LIQUIDS

Anhedral carrolite (white, cracks) in chalcopyrite (yellow)

and bornite (pinkish brown); Nkana mine, Zambia

(Pracejus, B., 2008)

TEXTURES
2. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM COOLING
2.1 Recrystallization
2.2 Inversion
2.3 Oxidation-Exsolution and Reduction-Exsolution
2.4 Thermal Stress

TEXTURES
2. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM COOLING
2.1 Recrystallization

Recrystallized pyrite with discrete, atoll-shaped

growth zones of chalcopyrite and galena
(Taylor et al, 19..)

TEXTURES
2. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM COOLING
2.3 Oxidation-Exsolution and Reduction-Exsolution

Exsolution of ilmenite (brownish grey) and hematite (light grey)

(Pracejus, B., 2008)

TEXTURES
3. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF OPEN-SPACE DEPOSITION

TEXTURES
3. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF OPEN-SPACE DEPOSITION

TEXTURES
3. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF OPEN-SPACE DEPOSITION

TEXTURES
3. PRIMARY TEXTURES OF OPEN-SPACE DEPOSITION

Tetrahedrite vein within chalcopyrite

TEXTURES
4. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM REPLACEMENT
(INCLUDING WEATHERING)
4.1 Crystal Surfaces
4.2 Crystal Structures
4.3 Chemical Composition

TEXTURES
4. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM REPLACEMENT
(INCLUDING WEATHERING)
4.1 Crystal Surfaces

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TEXTURES
4. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM REPLACEMENT
(INCLUDING WEATHERING)
4.1 Crystal Surfaces

TEXTURES
4. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM REPLACEMENT
(INCLUDING WEATHERING)
4.2 Crystal Structures

Muscovite (dark grey) is replaced along cleavage by

galena (light grey) and chalcopyrite (yellow)

(Pracejus, B., 2008)

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TEXTURES
4. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM REPLACEMENT
(INCLUDING WEATHERING)
4.2 Crystal Structures

Lamellar chalcocite (bluish grey) replacing bornite (brownish)

(Pracejus, B., 2008)

TEXTURES
4. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM REPLACEMENT
(INCLUDING WEATHERING)
4.3 Chemical Composition

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TEXTURES
5. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM DEFORMATION
5.1 Twinning, Kink banding, Pressure Lamellae
5.2 Curvature or Offset of Linear Features
5.3 Schlieren
5.4 Brecciation, Cataclasis, and Durchbewegung

TEXTURES
5. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM DEFORMATION
5.1 Twinning, Kink banding, Pressure Lamellae

molybdenite
Deformation twins in pyrrhotite

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TEXTURES
5. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM DEFORMATION
5.2 Curvature or Offset of Linear Features

TEXTURES
5. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM DEFORMATION
5.4 Brecciation, Cataclasis, and Durchbewegung

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TEXTURES
5. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM DEFORMATION
5.4 Brecciation, Cataclasis, and Durchbewegung

TEXTURES
6. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM ANNEALING
AND METAMORPHIC CRYSTAL GROWTH
6.1 Annealing

6.2 Metamorphic Crystal Growth

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TEXTURES
6. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM ANNEALING
AND METAMORPHIC CRYSTAL GROWTH

Crack
Recrystallization

Metal grain

Crack

Crack

TEXTURES
6. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM ANNEALING
AND METAMORPHIC CRYSTAL GROWTH
6.1 Annealing

Left: Naturally deformed galena and

sphalerite in Broken Hill sulfide-garnet
gneisss, with tense deformation of
galena.
Right: The same, heated at 325 0 C for
28 days. Galena has recrystallized but
sphalerite has not. (X 125)
(Stanton and Willey, 1970)

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TEXTURES
6. SECONDARY TEXTURES RESULTING FROM ANNEALING
AND METAMORPHIC CRYSTAL GROWTH
6.2 Metamorphic Crystal Growth

Coarse-grained pyrrhotite (brown, top left) is intergrown with chalcopyrite

(yellow, top right) and sphalerite (light grey, bottom left). A small galena
inclusion (white, centre) lies within silicate (dark grey). Note triple junction
(http://www.smenet.org/opaque-ore/plate63b.htm)

TEXTURES
8. SPECIAL TEXTURES
8.1 Chalcopyrite Disease

Chalcopyrite disease in sphalerite

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TEXTURES
8. SPECIAL TEXTURES
8.2 Framboidal

Framboidal pyrite

TEXTURES
8. SPECIAL TEXTURES
8.3 Zoning
canfieldite (light grey) & argyrodite (slightly darker)

(Pracejus, B., 2008)

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TEXTURES
8. SPECIAL TEXTURES
8.4 Martitization

Replacement of magnetite by hematite

TEXTURES
8. SPECIAL TEXTURES
8.5 Flames Texture (e.g. pentlandite in pyrrhotite)

Chalcopyrite (yellow, bottom right) has thin cubanite exsolution lamellae

(brownish-grey, bottom centre). Pentlandite flames (cream-white, high
reflectance, centre) are intergrown with pyrrhotite (dark brown)

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TEXTURES
8. SPECIAL TEXTURES
8.6 Star Texture (e.g. exsolved sphalerite in chalcopyrite)

Sphalerite stars in chalcopyrite

TEXTURES
8. SPECIAL TEXTURES
8.7 Birds Eye Texture (e.g. fine mixture of pyrite & marcasite)

Well-developed "bird's-eye" texture composed of pyrite and marcasite,

formed along a fracture during weathering of pyrrhotite

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TEXTURES
8. SPECIAL TEXTURES
8.8 Inclusions and Intergrowth

Dark gray chromite (Cr) grains with

gray ilmenite (Il) inclusion and lighter
gray magnetite (Mt)

TEXTURES
8. SPECIAL TEXTURES
8.9 Cellular Texture

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